OK, here it is, my fifth successive IndyMan, just so you can go “How Much ?!”.
The pre-match bants had been all about the pricing of the thirds.
Frankly I was only there because it’s too much effort not to go and I’m scared to break the run; the craft beer equivalent of my National Geographic subscription which now stretches to 31 years.
But first of all, “The Farewell“, a charming 90 minutes of Chinese/US human drama at the lovely (and cheap) Home cinema.
and some bao buns for tea with Matt in Mackie Mayor, where I just about resisted the Blackjack pale that everyone was drinking.
At 6.30pm, I was half minded to catch the next train back to Crewe, despite the undeniable fact I was neither heading out again or eating more crispy shredded beef.
But then the 192 arrived at Piccadilly Gardens and I said “single to Ardwick please“, just like a real Mancunian does.
And 20 minutes later I was here;
And I suddenly remembered.
IndyMan isn’t really about the beer for me, anymore than End of the Road is about music.
It’s about the baths. I buy 3 tokens at £2.80 a pop, and head for the changing rooms.
Just like the annual trek into the Larmer Gardens, my IndyMan highlight is the ten minute reaquaintance with the hidden bits, that mosaic and the inspirational quotes.
I’ve turned up late and I’m not planning staying long. So I won’t be nabbing one of those tables in the music room and talking pubs with an interesting bloke from Wolves or Woking tonight.
I don’t like standing, so it’s just as well there’s plenty of barrels in the food tents. But without Mrs RM or a random stranger, IndyMan loses something for me.
I have a Peach Melba Sour from Pilot, because they’ve come all the way from Edinburgh, a Hazy DIPA from Fierce, because they’ve come all the way from Aberdeen, and a Red Wine Sour from Squawk, who have come all the way from, er, Ardwick. I’m all heart.
They were all really good, too, though possibly not a great deal different from the interesting beers I can get in Mikkeller. Or BrewDog. Or Crewe.
Before I finish my Squawk, I carefully match it with a craft donut, just to make Mrs RM jealous when she reads this.
And I enjoy the two in the privacy of my changing room as the DJs move on to the crowd pleasers.
Only three thirds in an hour, so perhaps it’s the donut, but “True Faith” really saves the evening.
Their last vital single (OK, OK, Regret), and their last great lines.
“When I was a very small boy,
Very small boys talked to me
Now that we’ve grown up together
They’re afraid of what they see
That’s the price that we all pay
And the value of destiny comes to nothing
I can’t tell you where we’re going
I guess there was just no way of knowing”
Just for the DJ, and the baths, and the cute glass, I’ll probably be back in 2020.
retiredmartin 
Seems like a nice way to try a lot of interesting beers; judging by the photos this one seems to attract a pretty young crowd, I gather. I can see where a some pub traditionalists might find their eyes watering at those prices!
I’m very interested in seeing “The Farewell.” Sounds like a really interesting premise.
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The Farewell is a gorgeous film. Very similar in feel to a Mike Leigh UK film. Low key, real life. Tremendous performances.
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Aye, I suppose that since we have raspberry jam flavoured beer, we might as well have pale ale flavoured doughnuts.
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So you basically paid £23.40 to drink a single pint of beer in a hall full of middle-class people banging on about “inclusivity”…
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When you put it like that…
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Weird, I’ve never heard anyone banging on about “inclusivity” at any beer event let alone indyman.
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Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, Karen. Well, a story of some kind eh?
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I kept away to help the event move on from the typically old white male demographic image that beer festivals are now so ashamed of but I expect some customers there were “banging on” about racial diversity, challenging given some religious beliefs on alcohol, and the need for attendance to be a fifty-fifty split in gender.
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Aye, you can’t be too careful with those Methodists, Paul, never mind the PB and the Mormons.
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Etu,
Nowadays most Methodist members consider it a matter of personal morality whether they drink or not and I wouldn’t argue with that especially when I remember that the transformation of water into wine at the Wedding at Cana was the first miracle attributed to Jesus.
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And we’ve been turning wine and beer back into water ever since 😀
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3 x £2.80 = £8.40 not £23.40. I had a most enjoyable Friday afternoon at the festival,whilst I am not a ‘Lady Bracknell’ or ‘Jeremy Corbyn’ type of person who is an ‘expert’ on the social class of others I found my fellow attendees to be a friendly cross section of society.
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The admission charge was £15.
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Ah, Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a certian Vladimir Chernukhin, Putin’s chum, paid a hundred and sixty thousand quid, just to play tennis – with one Alexander Johnson.
The Indy sounds like an absolute bargain when you look at it like that.
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Enjoyed the event as usual, I agree the venue is what makes it so special. definitely don’t agree with tweeters views on ‘all in’ beer festivals. We got 12 tokens as part of our volunteer package, and still managed to cash some in at the end.. not everyone is there to 5+ pints
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Exactly, Karen. Tweeters on about £28 (each) for 11 token package, that’s about 14 units worth in a night!
Volunteers I met were lovely by the way.
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You didn’t take Matt with you then?
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