July 2023. Cheshire.
Four new Guide pub ticks in 90 minutes; it was just like the old days.
A motley crew, too. Brewery tap, two chain diners and a social club.
Next up, after a trip through the rich pretty bit south of Frodsham was an ultra-rare Chef & Brewer in Sandiway (never heard of it), which lies in the parish of Cuddington (never heard of that, either).
Close to Hartford, which I DO remember for one of the worst pubs in my ticking history.
The Blue Cap isn’t as bad as the Chine,
and if you ignore the terrible Chef & Brewer signage there’s an ancient pub in there somewhere.
Old beer mats on the ancient timbers never improve the look, do they ?
Too quiet on a Saturday afternoon. Too quiet for four pumps, anyway, but in Cheshire it’s the choice of local(e) beers that gets you in the Guide.
My coffee and Mrs RM’s half of Titanic rings up, I move my card towards the reader.
“SEVEN POUNDS TWENTY FIVE ! Are you sure ?“
“Yes, the coffee is £2.95“
“So it’s £4.30 for a half ?”
“Oh. Sorry. My bad“. Bless him, you’d be amazed how often that happens.
To compound the drama the lad then placed the beer in front of me, an example of casual sexism* that has on occasion caused Mrs RM to ritually disembowel bar staff whilst shouting “GIRLS DRINK BEER TOO HE WAS TEETOTAL BEFORE HE MET ME YOU KNOW etc etc”. I switched them before she noticed.
The coffee was dreadful, the free cookie was great, the Iceberg was actually OK (3).
Will it last long enough in the GBG for Simon to savage it ?
*Given I’d chosen the beer at the bar he had every reason to assume it was for me, I guess, but that doesn’t make a good blog title.
retiredmartin 
Sounds slightly better than “She drove me to the pub, never been out of it since the day we got married”…..
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Off topic for this post, but RM! There is real ale in Shetland! Had some time off work this afternoon for a medical appointment (which I couldn’t be arsed to go to so cancelled, but didn’t tell work that) so went to the Lerwick Brewery Tap which boasts a single hand pump pulling Tushkar Oatmeal Stout. Very good it was (3.5) First real ale since March. However, the place is entirely devoid of character, it’s like drinking in a bus station waiting room.
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Can you still get the Wreck Creation BCA’s in the Lounge in Lerwick?
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I haven’t seen Wreck Creation anywhere in Shetland. Most people up here just drink Tennent’s, Carling or McEwan’s.
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I see from Twitter that Matthew Curtis is currently on holiday in Shetland!
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T’other Mudgie,
Is that the Marrhew Curtis who wrote about Manchester’s 200 years of beer and brewing history in the latest BEER magazine ?
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That should of course have been “Matthew”.
It’s all guesswork with the Es, Rs, Ts, Os, As, Ss, Hs, Cs and Ns on our computer now.
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Bill, strange if you can’t find beer from a brewery from Scalloway somewhere on the island!
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“you’d be amazed how often that happens” with card payments I’m told.
6X £2.15, Tribute £2.40 today in Newport thanks to Craft Union.
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Blimey. I see Mr Protz promoting the Great British Beer Festival with a pic of the St Austell stand today. Actually the Tribute was my favourite beer at GBBF in 2019, my only visit.
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Although that used to be my old stamping ground, I’ve never been in that one. A Wilsons house back in the day.
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