A shameless current affairs reference as I can’t think of an MK pun.
I could have lumped this next place on the end of my first post from The Keynes (as they call it in Wolverton), but I got distracted by Cook’s finale at the Oval. What a man.
BrewDog deserve their own post. They invented punk, even if William Bass actually invented craft. And no-one like them, for some reason.
They’re the most punk thing about Milton Keynes, anyway.
The Long Walk to Craft takes you through the Centre:MK, which is as close as we get in the UK to an American retail outlet. In its defence, it would be my favourite shopping centre if I ever went shopping. I buy my clothes on an annual expedition to the Doncaster NEXT bargains place.
If you ever want to try all the big chain pub diners in one afternoon (XL burger & fries in each), Keynes is the place to come. Barn is the Beefeater, by the way.
There’s also an All Bar One, a Revolution and a Meet & Eat nearby. I’d completely forgot about the new micro pub in Wolverton, but it wouldn’t have been open anyway.
Who can resist the lure of the shiny Ellon roll-out, in this case a quick conversion of a brand new Draft House. Thanks to Fred for reminding me it used to be a Spoons at one point. At this rate, by next year it’ll be a Mikkeller run by Paul Young.
Last year I was impressed with Draft House, but there were few takers for its marmalade saisons. Brew Dog was ticking over nicely, with an even better selection of lunchtime tipples. I went for the Adrian Chiles approved Popsicle Parade (0.5%).
Most folk were here for the lunch, which supports my view that Brew Dog’s food is their strongpoint. Especially the chips fermented in a tea cup.
Because I’m a beer sommelier, I complemented the blueberry Berliner Weisse with an Nduja Calabrese salad and chips. I would have had the burger, but it was my day off burgers.
Best lunch in town, I’d say. And because Mrs RM was in Northampton, I got to keep the chips for myself #LifeGoals.
Great service, decent soundtrack (Cream’s White Room), weird chess and edgy soap (not Baylis & Harding).
And best of all, no adverts for Christmas.
retiredmartin 
£6.30 for a pint of 0.5% beer? The lunatics finally have taken over the asylum. “Beer for the people”, as they say.
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It’s cheaper than that £22.50 pint in London, and MK aspires to be a suburb of London.
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I’m quite sure Mrs RM was paying less in the Rifle Drum.
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Less for a pint of Fosters, maybe…
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Brewdog are a bit like ‘spoons, you either love ’em or you hate ’em – I love them, I get discount every time I go in. I love ‘spoons too. Does that make me a bad person?
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Only you know if you’re a bad person. I destroyed the video evidence from the Rifle Drum.
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No need, I actually posted about it … aargh!
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NObody is a bad person for liking or disliking a particular chain.
I neither love nor hate Tim’s venues but am rarely tempted to use them after 11am.
I don’t hate Brewdog establishments although I doubt if I will ever be tempted by their over-hopped, over-gassed and over-priced beers.
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Love Brewdog,hate spoons, personally, though hate is a strong word. Liking both doesn’t make you bad in any way at all, just a bit weird!
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👍🏼
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So have the rest of the Drafthouses been converted as well?
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Don’t think so. They’re getting more trade out of the site in MK than Draft House seemed to be (better food).
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BrewDog is a much stronger brand than Draft House. This is also part of the reason Spoons usually see an upsurge in trade when they take over an existing pub.
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Yes, the takeover of a faded hotel by Spoons in small market towns is still greeted with unbridled joy “We’ve got our Spoons” says St.Neots, Huntingdon and Whittlesey.
Draft House is a different model to BrewDog, a difference relevant to crafties in London but not the good folk of MK who are no doubt chuffed to see their city join the big league.
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“Spoons usually see an upsurge in trade when they take over an existing pub” but the tide might have turned.
Identification as a Wetherspoons venue is much less conspicuous on their (few) recent openings and looks to be absent on the images of their new Barrel Vault at St Pancras.
It reminds me that Watneys took their name off their pubs a couple of years before they disappeared..
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“The Long Walk to Craft takes you through the Centre:MK, ”
As opposed to that place almost right beside it simply called The Centre (no MK). 😉
“All your favourites”
Is that the same ‘all your favourites’ from the previous post? (the one that wouldn’t display for me)
“I went for the Adrian Chiles approved Popsicle Parade (0.5%).”
Since they charge an arm and a leg the higher the ABV, shouldn’t the reverse hold true as well?
“I complemented the blueberry Berliner Weisse with an Nduja Calabrese salad”
German beer; Italian salad. Very European of you. 🙂
“And best of all, no adverts for Christmas.”
Agreed!
Cheers
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Haven’t you heard of daily rebranding, Russ. The BrewDog is on its 3rd different incarnation and so is MK>centre<MK.
I think the high price of the Popsicle Parade is due to royalties to Prince (RIP).
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No chance, Prince would’ve banned them from YouTube AND Piratebay, and consigned them to dust in the Paisley Park vaults. And then paid £19.99 for a pint.
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Would’ve, but he’s gone. Same as Elvis Juice.
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“Haven’t you heard of daily rebranding, Russ. The BrewDog is on its 3rd different incarnation and so is MK>centre<MK."
Understand that. It's just that they're rebranding so fast your map view up above can't keep up! (LOL)
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What a man indeed.
I’ve watched Chef grind out centuries all over the world in Australia,India,the Windies,Sri Lanka and South Africa.
I can’t think of another sports person who embodies everything that’s good about sport and England as much as him.
Mind you,like David Coulthard and the Welsh former weather presenter Sian Lloyd his jawbone is wider than his head.
It always strikes me as weird.
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In answer to your question, it’s John Terry.
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Have you been drinking again ?
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Sometimes.
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When you’re not tipping it into pot plants …
Wahaay !
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I care about nature, Prof. My dad was a horticularist.
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Looks like a good-un, although a friend who lives in MK was recently lamenting the loss of the wider choice of the previous incarnation.
I like the advert that WhatPub? thought most appropriate for you by the way 😉
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Yes, couldn’t zap that advert !
The Draft House did have good choice, but so does the Spoons, particularly for keg. The chip, Chris, the chips !
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If you log in (which of course you’ll have done to submit your NBSS scores!) you can turn the adverts off – although it’s often more amusing to leave them on!
Aye the chips look excellent, I think I had them at BrewDog Newcastle when it first opened but don’t remember much, funnily enough… We had some good (evilkegfilth) beer in the new one at Seven Dials last week. No ‘Live’ there either. I do have extremely fond memories of early cask Punk, Trashy Blonde and Paradox, though.
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Seven Dials ! You know how to live. I have no recollection at all of cask Punk oddly. I do recall the excellent Edge (2.8%) and Alice Porter in Brescia relatively recently. Magic beer. Which used to be what matters.
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We don’t spend much time in London Village so try and make sure every moment counts and every penny gets spent!
Ah yes, Edge, now we’re talking! I think i supped about half the cask of that in the (Top) Newcastle Arms back in the day. Magic indeed.
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Glad it’s not just me who remembers Edge fondly. Had it in Spoons, thought it drank as a 4.0% beer, gorgeous.
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