Completing the Good Beer Guide requires professionalism and an ability not to be swayed by temptations outside the True Path. Just ask Pubmeister.
So no Beer Festivals, no Proper Pub crawls round places you’ve done before, and definitely no bottles of DIPA at home. And pre-emptive ticks only if their presence in the next Beer Guide can be confirmed in writing by two CAMRA committee members.
Back to the plan.
I even stopped at the Angel in East Park for luck.
But then disaster struck.
I’ve reached the stage where I can’t walk past a Spoons without popping my head in, just to see what’s going on.
A few yards beyond the Belgium and Blues, the Giddy Bridge called.
The Giddy Bridge has all those weird homebrews you know and love.
And, unlike in Bath and Petersfield, folk know how to get served at the bar.
I’ve been here before pre-match and seen a dozen pints of Ringwood pulled, and this still looked a cask stronghold.
Luckily I came to my senses and did my “Flat White with 3 refills” routine, always a bad idea when walking long distances.
Loads going on here, with blokes meeting up to start the weekend drinking, and gentlefolk discussing the intricacies of prostate surgery to my right over their fish and chips (prostate not shown). Urinary tracts never seemed less appealing.
Fill in the gaps..
Feeling pleased to resist a beer, but anguished at having turned down a chance to use up a Spoons voucher, I then succumbed to the pre-emptive I’d noticed scrolling through WhatPub.
So how does London Road Brew House feature on the authenticity scale, where Brewhouse and Kitchen scores 1, BrewDog is a 6 and Calverley’s is a 9?
Pretty well, I thought. As an ex-Varsity pub, the core of the building still shouts “Studentzzz“; I raised the average age by about 5 years. It won’t be featuring on any National Inventory crawl of the south coast, but the beer range wasn’t your usual “Meantime, Amstel and Adnams on a back bar” and it fooled me.
Cask ? You’re joking. I had a half of tasty Rabbit Food, and pretended I was a hipster (hear Mrs RM roar with laughter), and saw everyone else go for keg too.
I’ve just realised that if it gets in the Guide my keg will count for naught and I’ll need to pop back for the cask. Unprofessional ticking, again.
Next, micros.
retiredmartin 
I wonder where Wetherspoons get their carpets. Is there a carpet factory that specialises in sick-coloured 70s-style pub carpets to create a warm and inviting ambience? And what about the policy of having toilets in another wing on the second floor? How does that go down with the usual prostate-struggling clientele?
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AFAIK, most Spoons have a disabled toilet at ground level to cater for the scooter brigade, who generally cover most of the prostate crowd.
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In my experience, people of limited ability to climb stairs, even if not “disabled” as such, are usually allowed to use the ground-floor loo as well.
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Maybe we need to check the small print on Spoons vouchers to see if it covers all CAMRA members?
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Morten,
I once read in the Guardian that “The budget boozer’s carpets may look as if they are designed to disguise vomit but, in reality, each one is a bespoke work of art”
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You went in a Hipster bar and had some lettuce?
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I always saw Bugs Bunny eat carrots, so it was definitely carrots.
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So is Elmer Fudd waiting patiently for the start of Martin season?
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I love Spoons. Like everything, they vary. I love the carpets; will it be a post moderne classic or their version of chintzy chintzy cheeriness? They are all different and some guy has published a book about them. I sent him a message once enquiring around a particular fact – he never got back to me.
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He probably brushed your request under the carpet ….
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Boom.
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Published a book about Weatherspoons carpets?….;)
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Oooohh – I like a quiz –
All human life is here…
LRBH looks a bit more relaxed during your visit compared to mine on Saints home match day…
…shame you didn’t try their home brews on cask though…
…still those upcoming GBG candidates will be another great opportunity to visit to Southampton (and New Milton I reckon)…..something to look forward to…
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YOU WIN 25 points !!!!
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That’s a lot of points….I think I’m tempted to cash them in…
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I refer you to Subsection 6.II of the rules,
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You are becomng the modern CAMRA man- keg will be in the guide soon and it will be all worthwhile….Why is Ruddles so cheap???
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According to correspondents on the “official” CAMRA blog, Ruddles is a cheap beer made with water, while Harveys is made with pure nectar.
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Glad that’s been cleared up!
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Water and chemicals. Don’t forget the chemicals.
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“Urinary tracts never seemed less appealing.”
Have I ever commented here on my two months of work in Turkey at the end of 2008? 😉
“Unprofessional ticking, again.”
Tsk, tsk.
Cheers
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No, and you’re not going to tell us either.
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