May 2024. Warwick.
You left me in the Eagle discussing leg fractures and Newton Abbot cider houses with a lovely couple of Mo-Homers who I tried to persuade to do the Warwick Pub Crawl.
I never saw them in the next four pubs, so either they did it in reverse or they (more likely) took a bottle of Merlot from Sainsbury back to their campsite on the racecourse.
Yes, I did all five (5) of Warwick’s GBG entries, a generous allocation but all deserved, and I get to bring you a pic of Lord Leycester Hospital for the 27th time on this blog.
Next door is the Old Post Office, sister pub to the Eagle, and a place I loved in 2016.
Classy, two levels,
golf club crowd, focus on beer quality, Old Skool toilet humour.
and “Proper” music.
That makes it sound terribly dull, which it really isn’t.
The landlord, in particular, is a gem.
I ask for a pint of the Byatt’s IPA.
“Oh, I wouldn’t have that one, it might be nearly gone. I’d have the Froth Blowers if I were you“.
Well, I do like a dominant, decisive, man. So I had the Frothblowers,
perched between the couples at the front,
and the Hi-Vis on the next level. A great buzzy atmosphere, not at all beery, in the Golden Hour.
I was a little “intrigued”, I guess, when the landlady then pulled a pint of that forbidden Byatts for a customer while I sipped a pint that was decent but not brilliant (3+). Was it being held back for the regulars ?
But then the landlord popped over, in between furious tinkering with the barrels, and explained there was a bit more left than he’d thought, and presented me with a generous taster to prove the point. It was nectar (NBSS 4.5), though a local had to add “Personally, I find that one a bit dry“.
Sir, I like dry. And I appreciated the gesture, though I didn’t stay for a pint.
retiredmartin 
That’s a funny incident. No taster and you would have left with a really dry taste in your mouth.
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I was actually sitting there thinking “Why did you refuse me the beer I asked for ?” (And steer me away from the Phipps) when he popped the taster over.
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I have a rule that I never score anything that I’ve not paid for.
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That’s a good rule. I avoid any tasters I’m offered because it just seems like real twattery asking for a thimble of sour and then going “ooh it’s sour”.
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I never ask “what do sell most of?”
Because a) it ends a sentence with a preposition, and b) the bar staff – correctly guessing that you will buy whatever they say – will give you whatever they want to get rid…of.
I think that I’ll now broaden that scepticism to their recommendations in general.
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It’s a rule for me that I’ll always take the staff recommendation. I can’t believe 1 in 1,000 ask for what’s going fastest !
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The pub is on three levels, as I found when I wanted to escape the bar hangers, one of whom told me I would regret having just a half of the Phipps IPA. There’s a lovely room at the back, full of bric-a-brac, and a delightful place to drink a half and then confirm my regrets on the way past the bar hangers to the door.
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Oh yes you’re right about the back room, Will.
When the landlord told me he wasn’t sure about the Byatts I asked for a pint of the Phipps but he said I’d find the Frothblowers more similar in style. I think he confused me for someone who cares about beer styles, possibly yourself.
I fairness, I won’t criticise anyone so passionate about their craft.
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Since reading this blog, I must admit to changing the way I approach choosing a beer in pubs with several casks on sale but few customers seemingly drinking it. I go for the best known name and the one I know to be popular. Perhaps surprisingly, I had an outstanding pint of Banks’s Amber using that policy. However, I have been drinking far more WV Butty Bach than I want to.
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It took me many years to realise that cellarmanship and turnover were more important to the quality of the pint, Andy, and that beers like Banks’s Amber were capable of excellence while the more renowned beers like Landlord were often dull because they were being served in what were more restaurant than pub with barely a pint sold an hour.
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