As the great BRAPA says in his latest post,
“let’s face it, the ‘Beast from the East’ has been more like the ‘Kitten from Thames Ditton’ so far”
Mrs RM is stuck in Berwick on Tweed as I write.
I did suggest she get out and walk across the holiday park to the Free Trade Inn, but the line went dead at that point. It was so bad she had to resort to bottled beer on her 6 hour train trip.
I’m making Mrs RM my “Hero of the day“, like in the M People song we all hate even though they’re Mancs. It could be you tomorrow, if you come round in your 4 x 4 and drive me to a pub in East Sussex.
I was a Pub hero last night, braving a five minute walk to the Sun.
Pubs look even better in the snow, as long as the beer supplies get through.
I popped in for “a cheeky half*” while my Crispy Beef and Singapore Rice was expertly prepared by Chung Hwa.
The lounge bar was empty (it’ll be full tonight for the quiz), so I joined a handful of Professional Drinkers at the bar ready to watch Tottenham v Rochdale. The landlord is a Spurs supporter, but the midweek crowd comprised West Ham, Man U, Cambridge and Liverpool fans (I never own to my own allegiance, of course).
Oh, look, Plum Porter.
It’s been a while. In the first half of 2017 PP was everywhere, and I’ve missed it. I blame Matthew Lawrenson for drinking too much.
This was gorgeous. Not too cool, a rich, thick winter warmer of a beer. (NBSS 4).
It was so good I stopped for a second, and pretended to be interested in the match. And just look at those lacings, mmmm.
Inevitably you’re drawn into discussions on the controversial points in the match, which was all of them last night. The only surprise was that no-one said “Harry Kane, ‘e’s no good“. Perhaps because he wasn’t playing.
In the half hour I was there (they cook your Chinese fresh at Chung Hwa), I learnt one thing;
VAR is a desperate attempt to salvage the reputation of the FA Cup by making football a laughing stock. It might just work.
I left before the deserved ‘Dale equalizer. No idea who won.
*Only southerners say this
retiredmartin 
” a cheeky half ”
In the Professor Pie-Tin household the magic words are ” just nipping out for a fast quart ” which are followed by text an hour later with ” just doing the half gallon ” with a further text another hour later ” I’ll have my dinner tomorrow night as I’m staying for the half dozen .”
In the good old days it was not unusual to have three or four dinners in the fridge stacked up like planes over a snowbound Gatwick airport.
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As doctors do my GP asked how much I drank, I said less than a gallon. The conversation moved on, and then the doc returned with: how much do you drink? I said rarely more than a gallon. The young doctor was clearly perplexed, what’s a gallon? Four quarts, I said. The conversation moved on.
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I worked with a bloke once whose doctor asked him how much he drank in a week and after he’d told her, and she’d started lecturing him about how that was far too much, thought to himself, I’ve actually only told her what I drink in *the* week, not including weekends…
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Not sure it always come across on the blog but I actually get at least 3 alcohol-free days a week and average about 21 units (even with the pub crawl round Oxford on Sat it was only 9 pints worth last week).
Sharing pints and halves with Mrs RM helps.
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Grrrr – my local has just Facebooked “we’ve decided that it’s best not to open tonight for everyone’s safety. ”
It’s a pub.Lots of people who drink there live within easy walking distance.There isn’t a car on the road.Storm Emma is hours away yet.
Can you imagine Sir Ranulph Fiennes strolling up for a quick one and being told a few centimetres of snow has renerederd the pouring of pints unsafe.
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Plum porter looks outstanding…the Swan in Milton has been taken over and has some very good Burton Bridge beer and Bass as staples 👍 no TV though so I missed the mighty Dale
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Swan was always good. I sense you’d have loved VAR !
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I am in favour of it…I would love a diving panel who hammered players who five…I’d also like a TV watchdog to instantly sack any pundit who says “there was contact” every time a player falls over in penalty area…I’d also limit the amount of backroom staff allowed on benches as they just stir up trouble…I’d also keep moving the ball forward ten yards every time players surround/ appeal referee until it became a penalty… finally any player who blanked the press as a player should be banned from punditry! Still the best game though
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Agree strongly with all that apart from the first line. The mistakes are the best part, perhaps less so as a player than a fan. I’d scrap goal line technology too. And goalposts. Especially goalposts.
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I agree to no VAR if the deal is pundits can’t talk about controversial decisions…only fans and blokes in the pub are allowed!
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You need to try Harrogate Plum Porter – much more sophisticated than Titanic which although I find pleasant, I can never get over that intensely artificial pluminess. They have it on in the new Harrogate tap in the wood – surely a pre-emptive strike for a GBG chaser?
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The Free Trade Inn at Berwick, now that really is a Proper Pub, not that I’ve been there for over twenty years.
I’m not two miles from a Titanic pub which nearly always has the Plum Porter on but I find it too sweet and with something of a stewed taste. Far nicer, and rarer, is the 6½% Plum Porter Grand Reserve which somehow has the richness of a proper Belgian fruit beer.
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Goes to show, I didn’t get on with the Grand Reserve, but Plum Porter is just right for me.
Free Trade hasn’t changed, see here;
https://retiredmartin.com/2016/02/07/berwick-the-full-cultural-experience/
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Martin,
It wouldn’t do for us all to like the same beers.
You prefer the ‘ordinary’ Plum Porter which definitely does have a dedicated fan base and has won quite a few awards and I prefer the 6½% Plum Porter Grand Reserve.
And it wouldn’t do for us all to like the same pubs.
Yes, I shall have to return to the Free Trade.
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“as long as the beer supplies get through.”
Don’t I know it! (but in my case it was liquor stores on my birthday; but still). 🙂
“View from Chung Hwa Chinese Takeaway, the UK’s best”
I don’t know what to “take away” from that remark.
(yeah, I’ll admit that’s a bit of a reach)
“My local, technically”
Very nice.
“I popped in for “a cheeky half*” while my Crispy Beef and Singapore Rice was expertly prepared by Chung Hwa.”
Sigh, back when my dear old Dad was alive (and I was visiting) we’d do the same whilst waiting for a pizza (and it was a pint, not a half). 🙂
“Yummy Burslem magic”
No offense, but is it really that good?
(can’t find a decent porter to purchase around here sadly) 😦
“It was so good I stopped for a second,”
Ok, that answers my question above. 🙂
“VAR is a desperate attempt to salvage the reputation of the FA Cup by making football a laughing stock. ”
The scary thing I actually understand that from all the way over here.
(that’s the new video replay thingy, yes?)
Cheers
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Plum Porter is a beer that shows how good cask can be. It’s got detractors, but a dedicated fan base. In my Top 3 with Bass and Green Devil (not in bottles).
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Well done on careful drinking thus creating a beautiful representation of Peak District snowdrifts. An artist in lacings.
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Glad you spotted the artistry. Took me a whole three minutes.
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For a while I thought it was an impressionist work by that Pissarro artist chappie. Instead it’s just barcounter-feit. I’ll go now.
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Stupid question coming up – but somebody’s got to ask it…
Is that a multi-dispense handpump with all the pump clips on it? if so – how does it work? I’d guess there’s a hand-cranked lever to select the correct beer line…
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