retiredmartin

14th April 2023.

Even in 2023, “D” is followed by “E”, and so it was that we left the Bartons Arms to brave the rain on the way to the Jewellery Quarter.

Except that Life After Football had different ideas.

“We should pop in the Steak House, proper Brum bar” he said, convinced we’d passed it on the trudge up the A34 an hour before.

I couldn’t remember anything on New Town Row apart from fried chicken shops, self storage units and a gun shop.

But you should never doubt the chosen leader of your pub crawl curated exploration. Paul and Paul decided to give it a miss and head on to the Bull.

See, I did visit the Big Smoke (not to be confused with the crafty brewery at Luton Airport) Shisha Bar, aka the Steak House.

Well, you never know what’s going to get in the GBG24, do you ? They’re an open minded lot in Birmingham.

Now I guess you have a few questions, like “Does that fluorescent lighting give you a headache ?”, “Was the Bass on ?” and “What’s in that basket ?”.

Sorry, I forgot to take any notes. I don’t think it bit.

We had a great time, once the disappointment at the lack of cask and Carling (Madri a craft substitute) abated.

I’d been taking the day steadily, with non-alcoholic beers and halves of mild, and had a startlingly good espresso here from a majestic coffee machine while we chatted to the locals.

But then I leaned over the bar and looked in the fridge, expecting to see the Nigerian Export Guinness.

And instead saw the 16.5% tonic wine in a cough mixture bottle.

Even Blackpool Jane isn’t that brave; I HAD to have it. Nick looked worried.

It was great, a close relative of Buckfast I suspect, and although it’s possibly not the thing to slip into a run of Mild/Citra/Hook Norton/Weird DIPA I didn’t regret it till the morning.

And if you’re scared by a little tonic wine, stay well clear of Derek Tibs on the Ethiopian menu.

Nick mixed the last few drops of the bottle with his Madri, and may have created the greatest beer in the world.