MORE CLASSIC BEER & FOOD MATCHING

What did I do on Thursday, on a day the rain lashed down.

Glad I’m not living in Stockport and Didsbury. (I’m OK, at the top of the hill. Aren’t I ?).

Yesterday, three loads of clothes washed and dried, two sets of dishes cleaned, one US inauguration watched, and trips to Tesco and the local recycling centre. It’s all go here.

The kitchen tiling has been removed and revealed the Sheffield Star’s equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Yes, underlay and girdles, but sadly no ancient adverts for Stones Best, which is mildy disappointing.

More upsetting was the news that local off-licence Walkley Beer Co. has had to close.

I’d been enjoying their “cask in a 2 pint milk bottle” take-outs more than cans of late.

But local licensing department had just noticed they had an (unused) on-licence as well, deemed them a pub, and ordered them to close. Pretty much while I was standing outside with my bottle in pocket, like in the Pretenders song. The Two Sheds bottle shop/micro up the hill in Crookes met the same fate too.

So, I can go in an off-licence, or the craft cans line of Tesco or Morrisons, or get a delivery of cans, but cask is denied me as well. Or is it ?

Back home, Mrs RM had just had her 17th delivery of the day.

Yes, she’d succumbed to the craft beer subscription craze sweeping Mumsnet.

“Well, go and get the doughnuts then”. Mrs RM will be doing on-line beer/food matching next.

It was raining hard, I wasn’t walking into town for Dunkin, even if it is essential, so Krispy Kreme from the entrance at Tesco had to do.

8 cans from Melbourne, but not the one in Derbyshire near Life After Football, sadly. Too soon to tell you if they’re any good, though the pink doughnut certainly was.

And if Mrs RM ever gets bored of restyling the house, she can spend the rest of the year trying to cancel the subscription.

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

25 thoughts on “MORE CLASSIC BEER & FOOD MATCHING”

    2. Judging by the litter that Mrs. E and I stumble over on our walks they seem to be quite a bit of the present, too Cookie.

      Never seem to trip over any saison or Trappist bottles, mind.

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      1. A cat’s the usual offering, but times move on I guess. So a lasting memorial to the ‘One’s more than enough’ maxim. Pop it in a plant pot to be sure…

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    1. Back when I was still working, my employer used to schedule ‘wellness’ checks prior to signing up for health insurance. And I remember walking past the overweight smokers outside the building, go in, and have those same overweight smokers tell me how I needed to change my lifestyle…

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  6. Sorry to learn that Walkley Beer Co were forced to close, on the order of some local licensing “jobsworth,” especially after we were only talking about Jules, a few days ago.

    Such meanness only serves to highlight the problems faced by small businesses during lock-down, and the willingness of certain petty officials to throw their weight around, just because they can!

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    1. I share the sentiment, Paul, though I’m sure the Council would say they are only following the Governments directives.

      There must be hundreds of small off licence-cum-micros that have on-licences. I guess Beer Seller in Tonbridge is very similar. They and the similar Two Sheds in Crookes may offer home delivery, but it’s hard to see cask being part of that offer.

      Perversely, I can go to a local brewery tomorrow and pick up some cask directly. Inconsistent.

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      2. Martin, the Beer Seller in Tonbridge is in the same position as Two Sheds. They offer mini-kegs for home delivery, but I’m not sure about beer by the pint. I’m surprised that more of a fuss hasn’t been raised over the ban on draught off-sales from pubs, but we seem to have reached the stage that people will do whatever the government tell them, in order to not prolong the misery any longer than absolutely necessary.

        I’m sure you are right about the local authority following government directives, but it’s the inconsistencies contained in these rules that will ultimately cause them to fail.

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  7. I have to say when it comes to foods that I want to have with a beer, doughnuts are maybe not the first thing that springs to mind, but now you’ve got me thinking I need to give this a try. I mean, I’ve had craft stouts that taste an awful lot like a doughnut of some sort, so… 😉

    It seems a shame that the bottle shops that decided to try to also be a micropub on the side are now being punished with a complete shut down. Makes you wonder if some of them were really primarily bottle shops with precious few people drinking on the premises; if so they’d be sorely regretting, these days, the whole idea of venturing into micropub territory. As you said, the rules seem to be applied in an inconsistent way, which surely rubs salt in the wounds for those who find themselves on the wrong side of the regulations.

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    1. To be honest I don’t like doughnuts but it’s about the only occasional treat for Mrs RM and James now she’s banned chocolate and takeaways. Or perhaps I’m just ahead of the game ;-0

      Your analysis is spot on. It is a shame that places set up as bottle shops with a tiny drinking area (used more for tasting than an extended session) now counts against it. I certainly never saw more than the odd seated customer when it was allowed.

      I had a takeaway from one of those bottle shops tonight to show support but to be honest I’m getting bored with drinking at home. In fact I’m getting bored with home !

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      1. “I’m getting bored with drinking at home. In fact I’m getting bored with home”
        I’m just bored with life now.

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