retiredmartin

 

Tradition dictates that I bring you my monthly highlights and forward look about this time.

Scarily, despite knocking out 60 posts in October, I’ve still got twenty-three reports to bring you from the last week, including one with this little fella.

So I’ll keep the awards to the pubs I’ve reported on in October.

A month of fifty-nine (59, Si) new GBG pubs, which is just ahead of target.

My map of GBG completion is already looking rosy; I’ll keep Duncan in suspense and do a Guide update in November. Loads of pinking like this;

Beer quality was decent enough all month, so of course my most-read post was the one time it wasn’t, in Worcester.  The Paul Pry was a classic example of a gorgeous pub without the cask turnover to justify the pumps.

Amongst the usual class stuff from BeerMat and  PubHermit, there was some notable reading about pubs in October.

Pub Curmudgeon wrote about the quality/variety dilemma in this classic post, Citra slipped his heart attack into a pub review, and Russ highjacked the Pubmeister’s foreign correspondent reports with an epic story of “eleven“.

BRAPA was kidnapped while on Project Calypso in London and is now sipping Appleton’s Rum in Montego Bay.

New Pub of the Month – Duke’s Arms, Burton Latimer.  Irreverent, beery and smelling of pub. I liked the Duke so much, I went there twice.

Beer of the Month – Pomona IPA at Reasons To Be Cheerful in Burnage, a contender for Pub of the Month, and the classiest micro pub so far.

 

NOVEMBER PREVIEW

Tomorrow (Sat 3rd) I’ll be ferrying BRAPA around South Cambs again, then heading up to the Great City of Bradford for an adventurous sounding B&B in Great Horton.  Weird suggestions welcome.  No trains, apparently, which scuppers a trip to Hebden.

Monday 5th see a visit to the home of CAMRA, and Roger Protz, who’ll be showing a few of us around the best places to drink Doom Bar in St Albans.  Last pub in Hertfordshire GBG, too.

Later that week I’ll be going with Matt to see Car Seat Headrest in Kentish Town.  My Dad never took me to see The Fall when I was 17.  Might finish off a chunk of London as well.

There’s a fair few gigs, including one at the Oxford Bullingdon Club where David Cameron is now serving pints of IPA, it is rumoured.  The night before I’ll be in Bath drinking Bass in Bath.

Later in the month Mrs RM and I have a couple of nights in Bucharest.  As usual, best places for Bass, Brewdog and Balti welcome.

That should do for starters.