Tomorrow City get to parade the League Championship trophy with children, sponsors and assorted hangers-on; sadly I’ll be missing that to visit an assortment of Old Man pubs (sorry, craft bars) in Northampton with the men who defeated SR6. If you see us, avoid us.
So next Wednesday’s match against Brighton will be my last of a season we may well remember with disappointment, given three jammy defeats against the coach wreckers, a shameful loss to Wigan, and a failure to score more than seven against Stoke. Such is the nature of heightened expectations.
Ahead of our trip to the UK capital of craft tomorrow*, a few words about the folk who invented craft beer. There may even be a link between the last post and the BrewDog founder Martin Dickie, but Russ is away at present.
I stopped for my free pint of Punk IPA before City’s stroll against Swansea. Those nice BrewDog folk have already extended their offer once but I hate missing out on freebies, or not using my Spoons vouchers.
It’s not Sinclairs, is it ?
As you’ll know, I like BrewDog beers, and I can appreciate a success story when I see one. Their staff (sorry “team”) are also uniformly pleasant, and were impressively patient while I struggled to retrieve my scrappy voucher from the inner sanctum of my wallet.
It’s a nicely presented pint, though not a patch on the Live Dead Pony Club that seems to be properly dead now.
Long tables, tasty strong beer, the best burger & chips combo, an eclectic soundtrack, blokes who look like they’re auditioning for Dexy’s Midnight Runners (in ’81, not ’85). What more do you want ? Beer mats would be nice.
Having had a free beer, I considered paying for one. But frankly, anything else would have seen me snooze through the match. And it’s the Etihad, not the Emirates.
On Tuesday I’m at the BrewDog in Edinburgh. I’ll review the strongest beer I see for you.
*I have to say this or Mrs RM probably wouldn’t be coming along.
retiredmartin 
How much more trad can you get than mole sharing?
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BrewDog Edinburgh a bit tight and lacking seating. Bar staff reassuringly bearded though. Last time I went there was in 2014 after an unwise 16 hour drinking session. I ordered the Dead Pony Club, but ended up drinking one of the other guy’s Punk after his partner tipped it in my glass.
Love is…making sure some other guy ruins his lives.
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As long as they’re reassuringly bearded. How can a 16 hour drinking session be inadvisable. After the event, yes, but at the time ?
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Drinking session ended at 6am. Had to meet said partner after he finished work at Amazon 4pm. We sat for 45 mins, somewhat queasily on the steps of a building next to the Waverley Hotel.
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New Edinburgh Brewdog opened a couple of months ago
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Brewdog Edinburgh one of my least favourite Brewdog bar, but not as bad as Firenze.
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There’s a brewery missing from your tour of N’pton, can’t think of the name just now but anyway they brew a strong ale that Churchill used to drink instead of cognac when rationing kicked in, or something like that. Anyway, no doubt they have a taproom where you can drink it in thirds, straight from the can, unless it’s all exported to Denmark these days.
Try Beer Guerrilla on Wellington Road if you want Thirsty but with less seating
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Is it the Doom Bar factory ? Hope it’s the Doom Bar one. Does Beer Guerilla do Doom Bar. Do you know Northampton ?
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I think, looking at the list of attendees, that you’ll find the opponents of SR6 are in a minority.
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We all know Life Members votes were heavily weighted…
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I hope you’re not accusing Life Members of being overweight 😛
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Only Craft beer makes you obese.
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All the hot air and pretension certainly swells you up 😛
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Timed that drop-in badly, as Live DPC is back on there today. On a different note, wishing MC fall to pieces next season 😉 so crowds plummet and can get a ticket, as one of five of 92 still to do! Alternatively, have grace to be drawn at home against some no-mark club in earlier rounds of League Cup, for which few of the seat hogging ST holders will be arsed to turn up. 🙂
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You’d have no problem getting into City, even this season. Still tickets for Wednesday’s match and every cup tie this season except the Champs Semi. City fans save their money for beer ! Harder getting into the AMEC.
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Not a fan of Brewdog bars but the staff are indeed very helpful.
Few years back I went to the Shepherds Bush one while at a horror festival and being a Friday night I had a few screen cans with me. The bouncer checked my bag and rather than refusing entry or discarding the beers, he took them to the staff who put them in their fridge. Very nice, despite the fact they’d been in my humid hotel room for the previous two days.
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That’s really good to hear. They get slagged off in same way Spoons do, but do the basics right.
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In the spirit of Russ, I will quote individual lines and reply to them:
“When your first 2 beers are 11.1% and 14.3%”
This made me laugh. Imagine going back to the 1970s and telling someone there was a 14.3% beer!
“blokes who look like they’re auditioning for Dexy’s Midnight Runners (in ’81, not ’85). What more do you want ? Beer mats would be nice.”
Love the specification of which Dexy’s year we’re talking about. They did change their look rather drastically, didn’t they?
“But frankly, anything else would have seen me snooze through the match.”
I’m at the point where I can’t even have a drink prior to 5pm, as it will make me useless for the rest of the day. I am in awe of Simon, I’d never keep up with him!
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Love the “Russ-style” response !
Yes, no-one could keep up with SImon.
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Great bit of training for your B&PF trip…
Dead Pony Club – £4:90 for a 3.8% beer! In Manchester!
That’s quality craft for you…
….in a way it’s probably as effective as minimum unit pricing…
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